“Call for help! Hurry!” someone else shouts.
Eva can feel the blood leaving her body.
There is no more trace of her ghost sister, nor of the wolf that was not a wolf. She is lying naked on the wet sidewalk. And as more people come out of their houses and gather around her, she passes out.
77
The first light of day in the frost-coated countryside gave the dozen or so police vehicles parked around the Saint-Clair house a bluish tinge. The entire Rodez force had come out, and the officers were standing dumbstruck, their faces red from the cold and their eyes wide, not knowing what to do. One of them, unable to stand it any longer, laid blankets over the mutilated bodies of his colleagues. Then others, finally coming to their senses, began to secure the perimeter. Another officer resolved to bring out the yellow evidence markers, not knowing where to start. A female procedural officer turned on a camera to start making a video of the crime scene.
They were still numb, but their hesitation would not last. They were familiar with the dance. Already, the pace was picking up. Finding their footing on the rocky soil beneath the tall grass, the dancers were becoming more confident. They would soon find the rhythm, frantic and reassuring, of the anthill. Vauvert had no doubt about it.
The only difference was that this time he was not part of it.
This time, he was sitting in the back of a van.
He had been confined there with Leroy and forbidden to go anywhere. He was not really considered a criminal-at least not at this point-but in the eyes of the local force, he certainly was not a colleague.
It was the first time he had been in this kind of situation, and he did not like it one bit.
He gestured at a young officer as the man walked by.
“Excuse me. Do you know where Captain Nadal…”
The officer kept on going without talking to him, without even looking at him.
“…is?” Vauvert finished, clenching his fists.
He was itching to hurl insults, but he had gambled enough with his luck. He had no doubt that these men would make things way worse for him if he opened his big mouth. Instead, he fished a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and lit one. He took a long, burning drag that warmed him a little, then exhaled the smoke through his nose.
Beside him, Leroy sat waiting, his phone against his ear.
“Did you finally get a signal?”
“Yep. The connection sucks, but if I don’t move, it works.” He abruptly changed his tone. “Ah, boss? Yes, yes, this is Erwan speaking.”
Even from across the van, Vauvert could hear O screaming.
“Yes, boss, I know… I can explain everything… Detective Vauvert was right… We’ve IDed the killer… We’re at her house in the Aveyron area.”
Vauvert decided to leave the man alone while he explained the situation to his superior. He slipped out of the van and took a few steps in the grass glittering with frost. Now that the sun was rising, the sight of the blue mountains and fir trees was idyllic. A thin layer of fog hovered in wisps over the countryside.
Only the wizened old sheepfold house, with its thick walls of black volcanic stones, marred the landscape. It was a stain on this country field.
Stoic officers left the house, one after the other, carrying black plastic bags.
“I thought I ordered you to stay in the van!” Nadal shouted.
The captain was coming his way. His face was pallid, and his eyes were bloodshot.
“Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere,” Vauvert said, trying to calm things down. He pointed his chin at the plastic bags. It was a question.
“In the back of the house, we found…” Nadal got hold of himself. “For heaven’s sake, there was another room where we found more remains. There have to be twenty corpses tossed like garbage in the back of that house. I’ve never seen anything so fucking disgusting in my entire life.” He looked lost. He shot Vauvert a wary look. “I don’t know how the hell it happened, but we were victims of a collective hallucination. The shadows, the darkness… We thought we saw things.”
Vauvert shrugged. “Whatever you say.”
Nadal cleared his throat.
“I know you think I’m some dumb country bumpkin, Vauvert. But that’s what you and me are going to write in the report and nothing else. You hear me?” He watched his men come and go, collecting evidence. The truck from the morgue had finally arrived. “You think you’re so good? And now look at the fucking result! Two of my men are dead because you forced us to come here instead of sticking to procedure. No one will ever cover your ass for such a thing.”
Vauvert understood that full well. He was aware of what he had done and the trouble he was in. But he also knew that if he had surrendered right away, none of the local men would have lifted a finger to check his story. These very same guys had not even tried to investigate the missing girls three years ago.
Meanwhile, he still did not know where Eva was or even whether she was still alive.
Vauvert was spared any more grief from Nadal when Leroy called to the captain from the van.
“Captain Nadal! I have Unit Chief O, from Homicide in Paris, on the phone. He would like to talk to you. But if I move, I might lose the connection.”
“I’m coming,” Nadal grumbled, walking to him.
Leroy handed him the phone and took the opportunity to join Vauvert.
“How is he taking it?” Vauvert asked as he flicked his butt into the damp grass and lit another cigarette.
“The boss? He’s on our side,” Leroy assured. “He’s going to take care of everything. There’s no way we get away without sanctions, but as we speak he’s giving orders to our friend here to let us get back to Paris.”
“Good.” He pointed to the officers working the crime scene. They were shooting them looks brimming with anger. “I’d rather not be stuck too long in the hands of these guys. If they had half the chance to lynch us, they would do it without thinking twice.”
“But there’s something else,” Leroy added, his voice hesitant. “Eva.”
Vauvert turned toward him with an anxiety-filled look.
“What about Eva?”
“She’s alive,” Leroy hastened to say. “She fought with Saint-Clair and managed to get away. She got away, okay?”
Vauvert threw his head back and let out a long sigh.
“Thank God. Thank you.”
“They just got her to the hospital,” Leroy said. “She’s lost a lot of blood, and she’s been cut badly, but she’s okay.”
“What about Saint-Clair?”
“Not a trace. They think that Eva wounded her pretty seriously, but she’s still at large.”
VI
78
